Posted on 02/12/2007 10:13:19 AM PST by Ultra Sonic 007
AMSTERDAM, Feb 9 (Reuters Life!) - A Dutch journalist asked an Amsterdam court on Friday to convict him for eating chocolate, saying by doing so he was benefiting from child slavery on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast.
Teun van de Keuken, 35, is seeking a jail sentence to raise consumer awareness and force the cocoa and chocolate industry to take tougher measures to stamp out child labor.
"If I am found guilty of this crime, any chocolate consumer can be prosecuted after that. I hope that people would stop buying chocolate and thus hurt the sales of big corporations and make them do something about the problem," van de Keuken said.
Ivory Coast, the world's No. 1 cocoa producer which has been racked by instability since a brief 2002 civil war, is the target of allegations by international rights groups that children are working as slaves on its cocoa plantations.
Van de Keuken launched his attempt to be charged for eating chocolate two years ago when the Dutch public prosecutor ruled that it was not a case for the courts and that the journalist was not directly involved with the cocoa business.
On Friday, he appealed against the prosecutor's decision before a court which is expected to rule in April.
The journalist traveled to Burkina Faso to track down former child slaves who he said were sold by their impoverished parents or lured by merchants to work on Ivory Coast farms.
Van de Keuken said he has now brought one of these former child slaves to testify in court against him.
"We profit from these people and they get almost nothing in return. As consumers we are also responsible for these atrocities," van de Keuken told Reuters.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
If I am found guilty of this crime, any chocolate consumer can be prosecuted after that.
Trying to set a precedent, eh?
Aw. Does this mean no more M&Ms? :(
Guess I'm going to jail along with my wife and several of her friends.
From My Cold Tasty Fingers
>>>Trying to set a precedent, eh?
That was the entire point of the lawsuit activists.
Excuse me--I have to go buy a BUNCH of chocolate bars.
10.0 out of 10
well done
lol- be jailed for consuming chocolate, yet scum treasoners like Jane Fonda, Kerry, Kennedy get away scott free with giving aid and comfort to the enemy, endangering our troops- Yep- this world has it's priorities straight- sigh!
The following link is a signature link and does not relate to this thread http://sacredscoop.com
In the Netherlands, children are not to work but remain sexual objects of desire for creeps, creeps to which this clown is probably one.
Maybe he just wants to get buggered all day in prison?
Let's convert all the children to obese lazy American children who are skilled at video games and have never worked a day in their lives instead.
jas3
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